P.A.-Israel negotiations break down

The P.A. has rejected Jewish sovereignty over settlements including Maaleh Adumim and the Gush Etzion in the West Bank, Israeli broadcaster Arutz Sheva reported.

P.A. documents presented to the Middle East Quartet show the authority also demanded the release of terrorists, the right to maintain a P.A. army and a halt to Jewish growth in certain areas, the Hebrew-language newspaper Yisrael HaYom reported.

The quartet, comprising the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union, has met five times in Jordan in the past several weeks as part of its effort to get Israel and the P.A. to agree on a framework for high-level talks.

The two sides had agreed only on a date for another meeting, but the P.A. called that off, signaling its readiness to return to the United Nations to win membership.

A P.A. bid to gain membership in the United Nations failed to win the needed two-thirds support in the U.N. Security Council in October.

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